Detrick Lowman's journey in the music industry spans from the iconic Black Lily club in Philadelphia, where he collaborated with The Roots and Questlove, to monumental events like Lady Gaga's Superbowl performance, his integral role at Late Night with Seth Meyers, and much more. As a seasoned touring drum tech and production manager, Detrick's career is rich with diverse experiences.
Reflecting on his path, Detrick acknowledges the profound influence of his high school music teacher, whose mentorship encouraged him to expand beyond drumming while nurturing his enduring passion for music and commitment to helping others.
They touch on many memorable moments in Detrick's career, touring alongside Anthony Hamilton with Chris, and collaborating with Kyle during a Fall Out Boy show, including a particularly humorous story from President Obama's Inauguration party, and more.
The culmination of Detrick's extensive touring background has seamlessly transitioned into his current role as the Senior Music Coordinator of Late Night with Seth Meyers, where his wealth of experience continues to shape the show's musical landscape.
Follow Detrick Lowman on Instagram - fallguy_2.0
The Loose Connection podcast is Hosted by Chris Leonard & Kyle Chirnside
email us at looseconnectionpod@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram , Facebook,
Detrick Lowman's journey in the music industry spans from the iconic Black Lily club in Philadelphia, where he collaborated with The Roots and Questlove, to monumental events like Lady Gaga's Superbowl performance, his integral role at Late Night with Seth Meyers, and much more. As a seasoned touring drum tech and production manager, Detrick's career is rich with diverse experiences.
Reflecting on his path, Detrick acknowledges the profound influence of his high school music teacher, whose mentorship encouraged him to expand beyond drumming while nurturing his enduring passion for music and commitment to helping others.
They touch on many memorable moments in Detrick's career, touring alongside Anthony Hamilton with Chris, and collaborating with Kyle during a Fall Out Boy show, including a particularly humorous story from President Obama's Inauguration party, and more.
The culmination of Detrick's extensive touring background has seamlessly transitioned into his current role as the Senior Music Coordinator of Late Night with Seth Meyers, where his wealth of experience continues to shape the show's musical landscape.
Follow Detrick Lowman on Instagram - fallguy_2.0
The Loose Connection podcast is Hosted by Chris Leonard & Kyle Chirnside
email us at looseconnectionpod@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram , Facebook,
The thing that I'd use on Instagram, my title on there, which is the Fall Guy, I feel like my career definitely. I created a niche space for myself where it's like when things fall apart, I'll become like I became this guy that everybody called to me, everybody leading towards, like, when the house is burning down, somehow my phone rings like I know you can still save my house. I know everything's on fire, but I believe you can save my house when you call down and you can call on and you know that the thing is gonna get done. I wanna see it through whether, with the case is I'm a figured out, I'm one of those guys that you would definitely wanna have on your team when I appreciate getting those calls and acknowledging it as such.
Speaker 3:Hey, chris, picture this Every day. You get on the train, put on some headphones, you get off the train, you're at fucking 30 Rock in downtown, new York City and you're looking up at the fucking building and you go in there and you go to fucking work. You go work in 30 Rock and you walk past people and you see the world that we're watching through our screens most of the time. You know what I mean, you see it happen.
Speaker 2:You know who doesn't have to imagine that Dude? Our guests today DJ Glamon.
Speaker 3:Incredible, right? I mean, hey, man, we've been trying for Dietrich to come on for a while and this hands down. Like you guys are gonna love this episode. I truly. I could probably sit and talk to Dietrich for another three episodes if we could.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean. So him and I toured together I wanna say 2007-2009,. I think it was on an Anthony Hamilton tour. He was the drum tech for Lil John Roberts, not the rapper.
Speaker 3:Lil John.
Speaker 2:Yeah, who was playing in that tour with Anthony Hamilton and I've just known him since, and Dietrich has toured with or been with the roots for like 15 to 20 years. Basically, he started with the roots in the clubs in Philadelphia where he was born and raised.
Speaker 3:Can't believe it. That guy is Quest, loves drum tech, and they just used to swap the seat all the time. And then, holy cow, he did Late, late Night with Jimmy Fallon, like he did Jimmy Fallon forever And-.
Speaker 2:So just for legal reasons, it's the 10 night show.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh yeah, the 10 night show with Jimmy.
Speaker 2:Fallon, and then Late Night with Seth Meyers is where he's been for the last six or so years as the production manager, but he's toured with Lady Gaga, pharrell, nerd, eminem, eloquil J long list, like most of our other people. Lots of great stories, lots of great perspectives. I think you're all are gonna enjoy this.
Speaker 3:Hey, check out our socials. Make sure that you're commenting on our Facebooks, our Instagrams all the meddas.
Speaker 2:At Loose Connection Pod on pretty much any platform. The TikToks we asked, we asked for. We had a hate mail last week and we got it.
Speaker 3:I mean it was obviously joking.
Speaker 2:It was joking hate mail, but we appreciate you responded. So, hey, yeah, tell us, are you digging this? The conversation is cool. We're obviously people from the old thing are just finding the new thing, and then the new thing's gonna be a little bit different than the old thing, and that's okay and we'd love to hear your thoughts. So listen to this episode and hit us up. Here's the music D-Trick. What's the first time that you picked up an instrument or were interested in music?
Speaker 1:First time I picked up an instrument, I think the picture I believe I'm like one or something like that, one or two, like I'm definitely in the onesie, very small, in front of a Christmas tree that has every instrument on the planet, every Fisher person instrument that they had. I guess at that point my mom brought them all and she said I just gravitated to drums.
Speaker 3:And in mom's defense, you were 12 months. You weren't a year old, you were 12 months you were 12 months. We all know how moms work. You're 36 months old.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely beautiful case. But that's the earliest thing I saw, and the earliest thing I remember is kind of being in church and just the music and all that kind of stuff. But as far as touching an instrument was by far again, it's a picture I can't even remember to spit like it's my mom had the picture and I'm literally just a little kid.
Speaker 1:I'm like one. I'm like in my onesie on Christmas and I got drumsticks in my hand standing in front of a piano. It's a trumpet, it's all. It's so many guitars, all these instruments you can think of. She had them all lead out and drums just happened to be the one that I gravitated towards.
Speaker 2:Did your family play music?
Speaker 1:Musical family. Yeah, my grandmother, my grandmother, she plays piano and sings. My mom sings, my uncle, he plays saxophone and drums. My dad played drums and it's weird, because, of all the people who I just named, the only people I've ever seen doing any of those things is my grandmother singing and playing piano, with my mom singing. I've never seen my dad. I just try to talk about my dad playing drums. Maybe, like a year ago, I was like Brad, like you don't nothing, like just didn't want to throw that out there, like hey, let me tell you about this one time, like so you said church did you grow up playing.
Speaker 3:In church Did everybody play in church. Everybody sang in church. The whole nine yards Yep exactly.
Speaker 1:It was being completely engulfed in you know just church growing up from the earliest of ages that I can remember Again more pictures of me being a little kid with some drumsticks on the front row just sitting there. Like you know, this that I was banging on everything in the house or everything I could get my hands on.
Speaker 3:Anyway, some people don't get that. Like kids that are raised around like Baptist church in the gospel and stuff like that, at 40 years old you could yell out blood of the lamb. You're like what key let's go Like.
Speaker 1:And we're in and everybody's in like and no hesitation.
Speaker 3:And none of those people really have like this formal music education either. At that point, like I've seen, people sit down at an organ and know what all the slides do play the bass notes with their feet, Like, and they have never read a piece of music in their life, but they know they can jam all those songs. They just do it. It's crazy.
Speaker 1:I can bring you in front of several family members right now, current day. Sit right down here, like so wait, you never know one. Like you didn't go sit with anybody to like give you the books and you're learning how the mechanics work with her. No, no, no, just watching other people, and that's how we all got it. Just sitting on that road, like little kids like this, this wish Somebody lucky enough to let you look it on the drum as you can play. You play it for a little big and one solid. All right, get up. Okay, you got your salt. Come on, get back up. Let me get back. So like if you were lucky enough for that kind of stuff. But that was the environment, that's what I grew up in.
Speaker 3:That's an amazing phenomenon of music is like people learning by ear in situations where, like you said, your family just did it, you just did it, you knew you were going to play some music because the instruments were there. It would just happen. Everything was there, everything was there.
Speaker 2:That's one of the things. So, like you know, and the connection that ties Deetre and I together. We toured 15 years ago.
Speaker 1:Right, right right.
Speaker 2:On an Anthony Hamilton tour.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that I learned early on doing these, like R&B tours and even the hip hop stuff too. But it's like man, all of these players, they all grew up in church, you know, and there's something special about these R&B players who grew up in church and just they've been working on this craft. Like you said, it's like you're early before you could walk. You're playing an instrument, right, and it's like that's all they've done their whole life is just play these instruments and it's the most satisfying. It's like never, not a moment, that like music's not being played during soundcheck rehearsals whatever.
Speaker 1:And it's just fun, man, like you know and like yeah.
Speaker 2:And like church breaks out, like church breaks out during soundcheck. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like all of those stuff. You know what I mean. Sure, it's always something. There's always a moment where somebody would do something very churchy, and it's very clear what it is. Is there anybody going for a moment? And they're like, all right, let's get back to work. Let's get back to work. But you know, it's like it's almost like really being in church, like you can't help it when the spirit jump out of you. You gotta tap in, everybody's tapped in, and the young get right back to it and they're like, okay, you know what I mean. But that's definitely the vibe. It's definitely something to speak towards, for sure.
Speaker 1:Just the idea of these musicians, these very blessed for sure musicians who are able to adapt into this craft, that are like you put them in a room with some guys who have been to all of these great schools and learned that, these great teachers, you know what I mean. All these book hours, it's like, yeah, but we got a different kind of hours that got put in. You know what I mean when it comes to how that church game goes, for sure, and not to say game, but just, you know, there's an idea of musicians inside of church. I'm like it's a different space, a different breed of musicians that come out of there, for sure Like definitely is, outside of that, the secular side of it.
Speaker 3:when you were growing up, what was like the hits for you? Or you listened to it and you're like I wanna do that.
Speaker 1:So my mom. So I got the best of both worlds. So my mom side is very much very churchy, for sure. But my dad side, that's a different. Ball game that was going over there was where you got. I got to hear a Prince, I got to hear a Luther Vanger or else I got to hear you know what I mean the Rick and James. I got to hear that kind of stuff and I'm like, okay, this is a different. So now I'm trying to figure out how to get that music home so I can play my little drum kit in the crib, like I wanna play, like that feels, and I watch it how the Delta's moving off.
Speaker 1:It is listening to Prince for the first time watching Purple Rain. I'm just like what is that? What are these drums that that drummer is playing behind Prince? And I don't like the drums we're playing at church, like what if those you little things are here and it's noisy there, my drum is on sound like it's like what is that going? Not understanding what that was at the time, but, like you know, again, that being Prince, like I said, michael Jackson, those are the things that the temptation is like, my dad side was just heavy. They were heavy and just what that scene was of.
Speaker 1:You know what was the music of that time? I'm all the R&B and stuff like that and pop. So, like I listened to, the police was being at my grandmother's house and they're banging rock and it's like, oh okay, what was this? And every time, you know, they were open to just music in general. Definitely wasn't like we just didn't just you know, black music.
Speaker 1:It was everything over my of my grandmother's house being over there on the weekend they play a P-knuckle on. Marvin Gaye is playing. Now you know what I mean. Or you know this is playing, or that. That's just what that household was over there. So it was getting really both worlds. And get to take that back home. When I was hearing there, get to take that back home, where I got my instrument. And now I'm like yo, I got it. What was that beat? He was playing again. I got to figure that out and my mom started buying me some stuff. So I allowed to listen to some other stuff. You know, start practicing, you know playing that kind of stuff. But that was during when I was still a drummer which.
Speaker 1:I am not anymore.
Speaker 3:Dude, that's hilarious Cause you know, you went to church one day and dropped a chop from you know one of those albums you heard and everybody kind of looked over like I know what that is, but we can't talk about that after so long, we're done.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll talk about it later.
Speaker 2:Like I know what that chop was.
Speaker 1:Definitely the case. And as you get, as Chris can test you like that's what happens when we're in soundcheck and stuff like that, and then cats will bring some churchy stuff into that. You know for sure they're taking home. You know if they're playing by Justin Timberlake or this person, they absolutely, all of a sudden you hear a little riff and it's like that was definitely at least four bars of so, so, so, so, so so.
Speaker 1:And everybody just look up at each other and say to each other, like I heard that you heard that yeah you know, what I mean, but you know that's something to joke at that you love about how music can come together in that way, in such a way you know what I mean. And again, being able to bring multiple worlds into one space, even before again those four bars or whatever those measures may be, just being able to have something, being able to live, that's really cool in that space, right? So that's always cool and something I appreciate about being a part of. You know the circular world and you know the Christian world, or just you know just side of that.
Speaker 2:Outside of church. Did you ever play in a formal band? I did.
Speaker 1:So outside of church, I really just started planning to like high school was where everything kind of took off for me. I went to a regular public school, university City High School in Philly but there was a music teacher there, a guy by the name of George Bird, who's passed away now. But when I got there, my stepdad worked at this high school as well and the drummer at the time was leaving. He was graduating and he was like nah, they were known for their jazz band, so he was like I used to go there in the summertime and swim and hold on, so I would always see the jazz band. I knew the music teacher but I wasn't old enough at that point. But he realized his drummer's leaving, called my dad hey, real quick, I need your son. My drummer's leaving and I really got drafted to another high school, let's go. I became first chair for the jazz band.
Speaker 1:So that's where it all like really kind of like the focus of somebody, really kind of being behind me, like okay, listen, all right, this is what's happening, this is what I know your playing, but that's sloppy as hell. And he was like I know he was a no nonsense kind of dude Like, oh, we played. He played all every horn. There was friends or saxophone, you bring it, he was playing it. So that was kind of really the start, but at the same time it was the start of what it is that I do now in the production world as well, because he like, as fast as he wanted me to be there to be a drummer, he was like nah, I don't want you to just be a drummer. He's like, I want you to be more than just a drummer. I refuse for you to be in my class and just be in here playing drums every day. I want you to run the whole music program here in the school.
Speaker 1:That turns into me having to know the whole audio setup of our, because our school, the auditorium, set 2,400 people, so people used to. It was one of the biggest auditoriums there was pretty much in Philadelphia at the time. People used to rent our auditorium out all the time because of how big it was. So a lot of like a lot of colleges would always use our auditorium. We would always do like the Spellman, like the Christmas, like festival, I think it was, but they'd always come up from Atlanta up to Philly and just to use our auditorium for this Christmas festival that they would do. Shirley Caesar would rent out our auditorium all the time and she's actually the first person to have a good sound in high school. She rented it out. She was having a Sunday night, sunday night like a concert, and they used all of our in-house sound.
Speaker 1:I was the head of the sound department. I was the head of the whole entire music department. So my first gig that I ever did was for Shirley Caesar running sound and I didn't get towed off. I wasn't like and this was all in high school, like you know what I mean. I think I did pretty well. I didn't get fired. Yeah, man.
Speaker 1:I didn't get called out in it but that was like the intro of what. But now is production that I do where it was like I could have easily just been a guy who played drums and then that would have been it. But this music teacher, mr Burr, really like he was like nah, like once you understood, like okay, you know how to play drums. You gotta be more than that teacher, you gotta be more than that. It was like all right. And now, you know, today I'm very much appreciated and I'm happy that I even got to tell him why he was alive and he got to see, you know, like what I've been able to transition into while he was still alive, before he passed as well. So that's, you know, pretty cool for me to at least have had him see me, you know, transition through the different stages that I've gone through. But high school would be that was the turn of what became, what was to become, really being on that path and really focused and really like, really really thinking about putting the hours in strategically.
Speaker 3:I think high school for a lot of us is where we formed our culture and our intake of like. We became a part of the music. We started dressing like it, we started looking like it, we started hanging out with people like it. Whatever style of music it was, we became a part of that thing. Did you find it? And I think nowadays I got kids, chris, like the whole nine yards being involved in school is different than when we were young because of the saturation of this culture of music that was around us in high school.
Speaker 1:Like the radio was a thing, like tapes- and you had no trip with us and other stuff yeah, tapes and CDs like and who you surrounded yourself with.
Speaker 3:So, outside of the music aspect of what you started to do in high school, what were your interests and did that form your culture as well?
Speaker 1:moving forward past high school, I would say yeah, for sure. So definitely. The things that were happening in high school definitely carried over and started intermixing immediately. Like I said, once I got to the high school I didn't get introduced into what at the time was called the Black Lily. The Black Lily was where the Root Space and we started their jam sessions where all of these when Anthony Hamilton was still just a background singer, I heard about that.
Speaker 1:It was one of the most legendary things that ever existed in Philadelphia and would birthed all of that whole thing, all of that whole neo-Soul movement. That's what was happening in this place Every Tuesday night nine o'clock. You went down to Bank Street on Market. Between the Market and Bank Street it was in the alleyway. You went up like 60 steps to this little, small little club and again, janet Jackson's stopping through there because she's also working with them on. You know one of the producers that also played with the Roots. She's at the studio around the corner. So everybody's like. You know, tonight we had the Lily. So every week I'm not even old enough to be in this place, but they got the door opened up. They're like yo listen, be there at this time At the back door, better be there. I never missed a day. But all of that was happening in high school. That was by the 11th, 12th grade. At that point that I started all of a sudden being in and around all of this stuff that's happening.
Speaker 3:Did your parents know you were?
Speaker 1:going, absolutely so. Again, my mom the dopest. I was raised single-parent mom. I'm like, and she just the dopest and allowing me to be, I just felt crazy. I just found my first concert, the flyer for my first concert. My mom got my autograph and I signed on the back of it and I just felt that in my basement a couple of days ago, going through a bend of like, oh so my mom keeps every worry thing Brain, that shit.
Speaker 1:It's so many random things. I'm like mom we're like a mother, of course just has opened up this bend in them. So I'm like, when did you bring this in my house First of all? When did this bend even get by house? But look at these, just so many random things. But literally my first gig was at a spot called Warm Daddies and I was playing for a gospel rapper and we worked on his album. I played on his album as well and all of this was during high school. I recorded on his album and everything we recorded at Morningstar. I'm like we recorded up at Morningstar and the album went out and that was the first gig that we had did on that.
Speaker 3:You're just a kid. You're just a kid.
Speaker 2:And it's crazy because Philly still had some studios at the time that was still putting out Like it was a thing High quality stuff.
Speaker 1:It was still many studios in Philly during that time of me being in high school and even up until this, about like this 2010, like really like 2010, 2011,. That was kind of the really things started really diving where everybody started shutting down the bigger studio that everybody kind of knew, the Sigma sounds and all that kind of stuff. That's when those spots started really shutting down like that Larry Golds they were. He sold at that point he had sold the studio off to Milk Boy. So you know it was a lot of that happening. But again, just in high school, I just happened to be in that era where this crazy movement was being birthed and the Heracobot dudes and all these people were still absent. Nobody's yet dropped their first product and I'm just in the studio around people and at these jam sessions while I catch a lot of it. This is Flowetry. We just got them from London. They just came in with us, we working on the album with them and they're just like did you know this was happening at the time?
Speaker 3:Like did you feel that? Or do you look back and go, oh, holy shit.
Speaker 2:Heracobot is right there, janet Jackson.
Speaker 1:You were very, very aware Like to be in those rooms. You were very aware to be at the lily and these people were there, like you knew, because one it was for again the rich were running it, so they were. They will put this person in your face, not out of you know this Hamilton, he, he, he, all but the Angelo right now, he and you like okay, okay, now you're singing, whatever the part is in this thing, like you know, this is who do is crazy. But if you went to the Angelo show, which we were all getting the live dates of it sit at home every time somebody came home, they sharing a little deck, a little mini display or that everybody's sharing that copies of here in the Angelo live, and we're like yo, and that's Questlove and that's James, that's all these cats all playing and it's like, oh, this is about the oh wait, so wait.
Speaker 2:Questlove was playing for D'Angelo too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh man Listen. So voodoo the album, voodoo Yep.
Speaker 3:The one, that's the one, that's the one.
Speaker 1:That is. That is by far, this is the one for sure. But that album, they went out and toured that for a couple years and I mean, like going YouTube and looking at some of them shoes, like the snippets that people got up you talking about like a few, my God Like, but yeah, but you know, again, all of these things were just all happening and we were just all you know, me, myself and other friends of mine were all just, you know, a part of this young, this young cats that were trying to move it around and they were just starting to become the bass player and the guitar player and drummer. For this person and that person are now these people that everybody know and love. And these were people who were still cutting their albums and putting, trying to put a band together and they got a budget and it's $100 a gig. And now people with the same big deals and, you know, major celebrities out here, yeah, but we were just in the melting pot of it.
Speaker 3:The juice that you had with the normal kids that went to your high school was probably. You were just like I got this juice and they were like yo. Who was that? The black lily last night? You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And the crazy part of that. Like then homies started like, because we were still in high school, they would come up to the high school. Like that too. We're out on the one. Our jazz band was second to none. Like I mean second to none, like these are guys who are out working for guys who have full on deals and they're sitting there with our jazz band when we're doing gigs, like none of our art crew, and they're in rehearsals and they're teaching us parts. And you know, this is what I'm doing on this and this is what you're like. Okay, I think.
Speaker 1:I think I'm in a circle, for sure, of something that is very much different, because there's no one else here but me. So you know, to me it becomes very clear that you're a part of something or you're being fed into in such a way that other people are not getting, as you know very well, that other people aren't getting what we were getting. For sure. I'm like, and even all the way down to just like again my music teacher. Like I knew for what the freedom that he was giving us. It was literally like he was giving us a craft, teaching it to us very much in a what I would know now in the history of what we know, like how jazz is very like free form in a space where, allowing it to be very Miles Davis in a way, he taught.
Speaker 1:I would very much say that he taught the same way Miles Davis played. Like you know what I mean, his approach of things were like a bad note is not a bad note, it's just a note that was played. When you say it's bad, cool, I say it was a note Like. You know what I mean and that was the way he kind of really taught us was in that, like he wasn't perfect at all, like he was very much real though, like why everybody had to play traditional jazz, he like nah, nah, nah, I'll drop a little hip hop beat right here, I'll give you a bar to give you a little something right there, and then we'll get right back to it.
Speaker 2:I appreciated that Did he? Did he try to permeate that beyond notes, Like when you mess up in life, like it's just a it's just a right. Like is that man he?
Speaker 1:was always giving you just a gym. He was always just giving like again. He was just very much keeping it real. Like you know what I mean, everything has something to connect to it, no matter if he was also bullshitting. He just made it clear like, hey man, listen, dude, that you can build that now.
Speaker 3:That is the actual, just culture of music. So there's so many parallels between what you're speaking on and what I experienced as well, but from my parents to the kids at school, to the culture that surrounded it. Like there's so many parallels to all that and it's so cool to hear, dude, we get in the podcast right now and like just have you talk about this story getting there. But, holy, like the parallel is so classic. It really is, and you Not. It is truly, and you can't, like you can't train for it. This just happens or it don't.
Speaker 1:And again, there's there were a bunch of people around, there were other people in our jazz band, for sure. I'm like, and there's, you know, there's a few of us who came out and followed through and really saw this as what we really wanted to do, not as a spaceholder, you know what I mean. In our life we're like, all right, I get to be in the Lisa Music class for, you know, this hour or whatever it was like. Nah, I lived in the music class. I had keys to the music room. When our music teacher wasn't there, I could still go in the music room and be in there chilling. We had IMAX in there before they really ever got out and was all the different color back ones, and they all had the recording systems in there. We were, we were doing sessions. I have recordings of us recording in high school and I'm the I'm the one engineering and everything.
Speaker 3:We're in high school doing real live sessions, and that's what your follow through look like Like you weren't even having to try. It was just a follow through of what you thought. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's crazy. It was all boring, like it was all there. You know what I mean. He was able to get money and the you know the bring in different equipment for us to have, like, so we had all different task cam stuff and recorders. We had those CD recorders and all that so we could duplicate stuff, master edges drop, so we had access to all of that. We had a computer where we could just, oh, my God, it was crazy. It was just, it was crazy. But again, these are the things that for sure you know what I mean Definitely need the focus Like, okay, if this is all, if I could do all of this right now, and this is just high school, like, and this is what this is like, you know. You know, I mean just the access, the energy of like this music thing is like, oh, if this is what I, if I don't have to do nothing else but this, oh, this, okay, all right, let's go Get me out of this high school, get me out and figure it out.
Speaker 2:Well, speaking of getting out of high school, what was your jumping off point to the industry?
Speaker 1:So, like like most people in music business, you think that this is your big break. I had just started going to college. First, I might have been like, maybe like a couple months in Just got a job at a KYW three. So I'm like, got a job in the school. This is all working, cool. But I'm also playing and working with this band and we go down to DC and we cut this album, cut so another whole, another band I'm playing for during this time, cut this album. It's my first time my mom really letting me like leave out of town. I'm recorded, we recorded down in Washington DC and we're out there for like a week or so. My mom was like I don't know these people, they're all adults.
Speaker 1:I'm still a kid Like, well, I was like y'all gonna be there a how long? And like what else, when y'all staying. I'm like what is that? My mom is what you know, my mom is what I want to do. This my dream, my dream. But you please, I quit my job, quit school, go on tour. It lasted a week Back at the crib Trying to figure this shit out all over again.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, heartbroken, probably heartbroken man I just talked in class man, I started teaching a class of professional development to college kids and I think people don't talk about that enough is that you're gonna lose your job, you're gonna be heartbroken, You're gonna hold it against yourself. And I still do this day, like Chris and I talked about it, like when I lost a tour a couple of years ago after COVID, I was like what did I do wrong? What was the thing? Right, you go through a full mental thing. For sure it's not, it's what it is. You do it, man, and I tell you what, most of the time, with your background, just hearing about high school and stuff, you figure out a way differently to push through it than some people do, because we live in the emotion of music.
Speaker 3:So it's not like we're not dealing with emotives all the time and the vibration in the whole nine yards. We know what bad vibration is.
Speaker 1:Like you, said Right, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3:And there comes that bad note. Was it a bad note? Probably not, because it's already been played. It's gone, it's going.
Speaker 1:already it's gone. I'm not looking back at that note, no more. I know it is done. Whatever happened there, that's what it is.
Speaker 3:Detrack is my spirit animal already.
Speaker 1:I've had enough experiences. I feel like, at this age, where just so much has happened in 41 years I'm 41. I'll be 42 this year in June, I'm like, but just feel like, just getting to this space, so much has just happened, you know what I mean Good, bad, indifferent, like just a lot has happened just to get here and what it's take to sustain being here, to sustain being relevant, feeling relevant. You know just. You know just. You know definitely conversation that people just, I feel like sometimes don't really express in a way that it is shouldn't for those who, really, when you really put in those hours, those up moments, those down moments where it's like nah, it's, rather than not just disappearing off of Facebook or whatever that might be and kind of not being open about something Like that, to me is a space where, like, don't go hide, like, if anything, hopefully you have some people around that you should be able to talk to, like in that space to move forward, cause if you hide, then you're just kind of holding on to it. You're going to be in your own dark space, your own head. You know about something that could easily be somebody that's close to you talking to you like bro, listen, like you just said, chris, being able to nah, bro, don't let that, don't let that discourage you, don't let that hold you down. Nah, we moving forward. That's just an opportunity. That wasn't for you. The one that is for you is going to come, don't worry about it. We keep on moving, can't get caught on that and that's by far. I would say that's definitely something that has allowed me and has allowed me to keep moving in the business the way that I do. For sure, just saying that you know it ain't always a win, it ain't always a home run. I mean, you know it might be a win, but it might not always be with home runs. You know what I mean. It might just be bane. I'm okay with that. And being I realizing that every bad ankle will get me there, like you know, ankle always be that. So I just take, you know, take them in stride. I don't try to force anything, but I do try to always be aware and recognize, you know, the things that I think are for me are showing clear signs that are for me, and you know you don't always know what that is Moving into the TV space and not to jump ahead in, you know, just in whatever the conversation conversation goes, but just in this TV space that I work in, I had never worked in TV other than, you know, being with the band and we go to a TV station or you know show, whatever the case is, and do our normal artists.
Speaker 1:You know, being with the artist side, not being on the technical side and understanding anything at all has to do with the technical side. But being offered a job where it's like, okay, I could either feel like I'm not worthy, per say, or not even worthy, but just, you know, maybe not at the caliber, because it's a different world from what I've spent so much time in. On this other side it's like or I could just meet it where it is Like I met this one, I didn't know what this really would be, I didn't know what the music business would really look like. I knew I wanted to do it, I knew I wanted to be in it, I believed that I could do it and I proved, and I've proven that I can.
Speaker 1:I just approached it the same way and going, getting into the TV world or what they want me to know, I'm pretty sure they'll teach me for the most part, like you know, if you're a hire ever, you're going to have to teach me something, and I know, if you show me that I'm good Like you, just get what you you brought me in. So we already I'm more than halfway there. Honestly, all right To me. That's my thought.
Speaker 2:No, that's sick. Um yeah, so the TV thing's definitely jumping forward, so let's maybe rewind just a minute.
Speaker 1:Definitely want to get back to the TV thing, for sure.
Speaker 2:But no, uh, uh, so so yeah. So you came home as band thing didn't work out. What. What happened next?
Speaker 1:band thing they work out. And now I'm back to I got to figure it out cause I'm, you know, I got bills, I got things that I need to start doing, cause I've made this adult decision. Now you know, like, so I got to figure it out. So I started doing contract and work. I paint first and the first thing I started doing, like go home remodeling, like that would have that would guy who needed to actually set of hands, like who I could use a guy, started doing that while doing whole comics, uh, around the city. I reopened my date. I knew everybody that was doing something Yo, let me know if you need a drummer, if you need to, to my own house band and started doing that.
Speaker 1:So now, now I'm back on a house band, back at the same place, the black lily, uh, the five spot with the name of the bar, but the black lily. Now they're like oh, dude, you don't, I bet cool, I need a drummer for the house band. So now I'm on the house band. So now I'm really more in than I was previous to, where I was just kind of able to be in there hanging out. Now, now I'm, I have a name, I'm not just the dude over there. Like I got to see you all the time, like yo, what's up, teacher? Like you know, and again your understanding that you're in this environment of people where it's like for real, for real nobody has to acknowledge me at all, like there's such a thing that's being birthed in this room that, like for me to not have a name or not be acknowledged by, you know, all these people is not offending me in any way and I had to be able to be in a space where that did happen.
Speaker 1:Because now I'm on like oh, they've heard me play the album that we did, you know, worked on a guy, got played on our radio. Like you know what I mean. So now it's like okay, okay. And then that turns into like you know what you got going on Tuesday night, or you know what you got on Monday, cause we do all rehearsals I need somebody on house band. That's really at least translates into that and then kind of just being around and playing a little bit for you know a couple of years to like I was drumming up until about 04 and then in 04, I got in a car accident and messed up my spine and that changed me ever playing drums ever again, and that's why, why I don't play drums anymore Like other than you know doing a drum set and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But me playing like in any way is something that I just really can't do. I can't really sit on a stool for two hours like and not feel like I'm going to then crawl off the drums. I would be no good for the next show at all, like not even close I'm like. But yeah, that was the, that was. That was basically the transition there. It was like you know, about three, three or four years of you know, in the city playing on house, band stuff, just all the local, you know, local stuff that was happening around the city. Then I said that happening with the, the car accident and after after the car accident thing just kind of was just around, kind of a little depressed, not knowing what to do, kind of where that was going to go, and then just got to offer to start. Actually wasn't yeah, I got to offer to go out with that, which I think was first if LL was first or for real.
Speaker 3:I've heard of, I've heard of that, yeah.
Speaker 2:But hold on, regardless of those LLs for real like when did you realize that, like, being a tech was a viable career?
Speaker 1:path. So realizing that part that came in cause, I mean after the after the car accident thing happened, you know, now I'm just around with the guys or whatever, so I'm just helping. You know my different homies and you all the drummers as well. You know you got to get cool, I will, which I'm helping like. You know what I mean. It was just a natural. I got the kick drum, like I got the times I grabbed the heart. Now we just set up the kick, because I know how you set up your kid. You know how I set up my kid. We're always playing together anyway, we're always, you know. So it became a very easy. I went with my friends, so it was. You know I'll be set up your kid. Now, setting up your kid all of a sudden becomes a. This is actually what happens on tour. It's like, oh, they're one and the same. And it's like, hey, I need a germ check, are you available? I am available.
Speaker 3:Checking, checking, check.
Speaker 1:Actually, ll Cool J is the first and that was the we did a Oprah was starting the own network and LL performed like two different, two different like sets or whatever. And he, we got the call then put the whole band together. The band got put together and it was like, all right, we need some texts. Like I was one of the texts that got called and that was that was the start of like. And then I received the check from the first week of us working and I was like, wait a minute, this, this is way different than anything, everything I've ever, ever, ever, ever saw and that, like you know what I mean. I mean why would a check not make you feel like I think this might be a career that I can really, really focus in on? Cause he says, do I share this check? Like who else I got to pay out of this check? Like you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Uncle Sam, you figure that one out later on too.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, oh oh yeah, oh yes, oh man, oh man, I felt that out the hard way. I'm not ashamed to say that, but I felt that out the hard way. In the end was like oh so you do need that money, okay All right, no problem.
Speaker 3:But I got this money now. I can't spend this now. I gotta put some away.
Speaker 1:Hold on Totally and definitely, definitely. You know, in the beginnings of all of that that gig and everything you know just in those first years is realizing like that, like somebody's handing you a check and understand like no, no, you don't have to take the taxes on that, you need to separate some of this money from yeah, you got a big check, but understand that there's taxes in that check, not out of that check. So those are things that I didn't figure out till later on. It was like wait, wait, how am I telling you Like ain't no way I made that much money? What are you talking about?
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh, ah, okay, so were your emotions. So you're used to playing, you're used to that emotion of playing. How were your emotions different, better, indifferent, when you started teching, when you knew you were helping someone else be successful at the thing that you used to do?
Speaker 1:It was it was very easy to separate myself from, from the job I was doing, you know, from what I used to do or, you know, felt like I still could do, or whatever the case is. It became very easy because the first gigs were with my friends, so that made it, you know, super-duper easy. If we weren't actually, if they weren't actually rehearsing, you know, whatever was happening, you know, get on the drums or I'm, you know, we're all. Now we're all because every, every church musician is a drummer. So everybody, first thing you do is run to the drums and everybody want to shed on the drums. So you know what I mean. It was very easy to transition where, didn't feel no kind of way and we all worked together for many years before other people started calling and working for other artists. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:That was separate from my cool guys and by that time it didn't. You know it was very cold to me and I did get on the drum. Kid was like no, no, I don't want to play anything extra. Like I'm, I'm okay. Like you got what you need. Everybody audio's good. Everybody cool snare, everybody's good. Okay, cool, I'm going to get back to the bus or to the hotel and I'm fine with that. Am I truly so easy? It was very easy to separate myself, but it was because of those years of again still with them, with our group of friends before you know, working for other people at that point.
Speaker 3:Did you feel appreciation. Like you were like man I made that snare sound real, really good today Like did you feel like, oh, he, he didn't ask for nothing. So I know, I did my gig Like my gig was there.
Speaker 1:You know those days are far and in between, but no, I can say I can say honestly, definitely always felt the. I've never been on a gig where I didn't feel the appreciation of the work that I believe that I was, you know, adding and bringing to the table. For what was happening I was sure I've never had never asked my life. You know my drums sound terrible, like what is happening, like you know every drum machine's down and like are we sure this was one of my symbols, that like it was right here, all right, other than stuff you know what I mean Like they can't help themselves. Like you know what I mean. But other than that, no, I can say I don't think that I've ever had anybody make me feel in any way or came off any way where like they didn't appreciate what was happening or what you know the job that I did for them.
Speaker 2:Was there someone who took you under their wing to like, hey, I know you know how to play drums at this up, but like, as a professional backline tech, as a professional drum tech, these are kind of the rules of the road. Here's how to be efficient, here's how to do the thing on like a pro level, or did you just figure it out?
Speaker 1:It was definitely a lot of just figuring it out. Again. We like we came in kind of like a squad so everybody was really figuring it all out, them as musicians. They were figuring out what, what, what this all looked like to be operating at a level. But that that church saw some, like you know, it makes it makes people believe like that, because people are coming in on such a level and playing so that there's no questions and idea like, no, they don't know, they're not thinking about you on the road, like they knew that your musicians killing. They don't realize until you say it like, yeah, I've never been on the road before, but you're a band, you're playing the music the way they want it, they loving it. Oh, my God, cool, all right, you know. So we flying to where it's staying? Oh, okay, I'm going to be in Istanbul. I got a passport Like.
Speaker 3:what are you talking about? Like?
Speaker 1:what A passport? Like, wait, where do I get that? I don't know we got a passport. I mean it's not Googling, dave, you couldn't just Google it Like conversations. You ask the people like, so we got to get a call, a card. I got to get a call it. What, where? So you know it was.
Speaker 1:It was very much learning at all, like school, the hard knocks about it all. Um, you know there were people around for sure that you know help once you got out there. Then there was, you know, other people that you would come in contact with that can give you a little chid, bitch and stuff like that. But you know how to rule be a lot of times as well. We're kind of every man is for themselves. Like, unless you roll over to click a guy's who are all guys that you you know have a rapport with him, but otherwise you know it's got to get in the. You know get into getting the bulk down talking nothing at lunch day in a whole little corner to themselves, unless it's the audio team, it's the back line team. You know what I mean. It's the. You know it's very separate in that space. But I've definitely come in contact with guys who you know who's always dropped in gym on me or two, you know, just in. You know, man, it's just something, how you packing stuff like that, why, why you got that big behind bag? We already gone for the weekend. I'm like I can't fit this stuff. Like what, all my stuff is in this book bag, in a book bag. I'm like, okay, sure, you know so it was definitely just you know, learning as you go Like. But for you know, for my side of what was, you know, being a drum tech, I was just blessed enough to definitely work with guys that I knew for a while. So they helped, you know, just with me getting grounded and you know, being in circles of now the guys who are the production team for you know, these other big artists who we were all cool in the beginning. So now you're the production manager for artists because you've already been in the business.
Speaker 1:Well, we first, we can start it, or, you know, trying to be around, it's easy for that person to know you know, oh de, I got you. That's all you need, let me. Let me show you, bro. The latches always lock the latches on these cases. Man, if somebody walked by, ripped the skin off, you'd rip the meat off your leg if you let that latch be. That. You're like that. That makes sense. You know what. You know what I mean. But just little stuff like that. But that's a major thing that somebody not knowing, and now all of a sudden, later on, somebody walking around, somebody took a choke out of their leg because a latch was down and hanging out. And you'll, you'll, you'll appreciate that later for sure, when you're like, yeah, our shin come across one of them cases and take that tick, not fun.
Speaker 3:So immediately thought about the scar above my knee when you said that.
Speaker 1:Everybody got one at least. Everybody got at least one for sure, and you learn that lesson after that one. It only takes one time for a latch to catch you, for you Like I got it. So we don't need latches down at all. I got it. Okay, I understood. So, yeah, no, it was, it was very much. You know again a lot of just being around and and being smart enough to be quiet sometimes and just watch and see what was going on. A lot of times when a guy is doing the job, when a guy is moving something, or how he's doing something okay, cool, even if I thought I knew something, I'd rather still watch and see how you do it, maybe something to add to what I do. I always been that kind of guy, I think, like just in this business and realizing that is a lot that goes on.
Speaker 2:So let's, let's fast forward a minute with jump pass. You've been torn for a while. You've done stuff with the roots, lady Gaga, all these different things and then you start dipping your feet into the TV world. What, what happened there? How did that come about?
Speaker 1:So we were, we were, I was working with the roots. I've been with the roots for almost 20 years now. We were just finished the Super Bowl. The roots were doing the halftime. Actually, we're doing the whole music thing for the intro for All Star Weekend, nba All Star Weekend.
Speaker 1:And one of the guys, for one of the one of the audio guys from the roots, good brother Artness. He got a call from the monitor guy at the time who was asking if he had seen me, like you talk to Deutre, just wonder, like I think he might be a great deal to bring in, you know, to bring on the team, because the A2 is leaving, the audio tech is leaving for the show. He's like well, I'm standing right beside him right now. Hold on, hand me the phone, get on the phone. He asked me a couple questions of how you feel about never being on tour ever again and I was like I mean, that's a lot, like that seems very looted, but tell me more. He's like all right, well, I know y'all doing something right now, whatever case is, but you know, hit me tomorrow or whatever. And that was a Sunday. I called him Monday. He had me up at the building by maybe like Wednesday or Thursday, I was working here that next following Monday.
Speaker 2:And for context, this is Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Fallon, yes, the NBA thing was at San.
Speaker 3:Antonio for the NBA playoffs thing weekend and I was at that show and that's when I met all y'all for the first time. Richard.
Speaker 2:Oh, so you guys have met before. You guys have met before.
Speaker 3:And we were. I was with Fallout Boy and we did the NBA weekend at. San Antonio, in the middle of the street oh man, what's up? Dietrich, I'm Kyle, I was with, I was in front of house due for Fallout Boy and you y'all were just starting to talk about the late, late show with Jimmy Fallon and to define for everybody out there who doesn't know when he says he goes to the building to do his show, as fucking Rockefeller Center.
Speaker 3:You know, maybe you've heard of it like LL or this other guy, pharrell, but you guys were on this different thing at that point in the career. In like it was, it was almost like a natural step for you, because the world of late night TV was Conan, dave and Jay Leno.
Speaker 3:That was it, that was it, and there was this new kid that was coming in for the late, late show, jimmy Fallon and he was just coming off Saturday Night Live, which was another. You know, it was this whole thing and we were actually one of the first year guests on the late, late show.
Speaker 1:I still got the t-shirt faded out like Fallout Boy the roots on Fallout Boy were like I mean, dude, it was like it was so cool because when we went it was.
Speaker 3:it was awesome, because when we walked in we felt like family and that was the first time that we ever did a TV show with other touring people like the people that worked there, the set people, you guys with the text were all running the show. You didn't have like these weird producers that had only done TV. It was road people doing Jimmy Fallon at that time and that yep yeah dude.
Speaker 1:So that's yeah, that's that's, that's, that's wild Like. And again it's you just storage, though, where it's like you could be in a space with somebody. And again we're talking so many 15, almost 15 years ago now and it's like that's that's so. Here's another space. So we were sorry working together as well. Were you with Fallout Boy when they did the first Obama inauguration? Of course I was. I was your backline tech. I know you were Working for, working for, for center staging at the time.
Speaker 3:Yep and we. We played with Kanye that day at the youth ball.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I was the backline tech covering all of this. This is amazing.
Speaker 2:I didn't know this when we hold on for the record, like with Paul's here for a second Like. So when you know, kyle and I have ventured out to do this loose connection thing, but him and I both have like this short list of like the people we knew that we wouldn't have different conversations with, never had before. Right, right, and I swear, I swear, dj, like you're up there in my top five, right and so like had no idea that Kyle had any history whatsoever with working with you in the past.
Speaker 3:Yes, and in that night we went down to the 930 club and we saw Cheryl. Crowe and the Beastie Boys for the mayor's ball Holy hell and. I believe you went to Dietrich and that was the night that Patrick actually ran into usher and knocked him down backstage.
Speaker 3:But dude so this brought back a whole whole flood of memories, of things that epic, and that's how close this culture is is like not truly, truly a parallel thing. And I love it because now I can tie these stories together, but I've been trying to tell with another person that can tell it from a different angle. That is just tying the whole fucking story together.
Speaker 2:It's crazy All right For the record, this is the best like play on like, so obviously for anyone who's fallen along here, loose connection right.
Speaker 3:Like I mean, these are just the connections that we have right and holy shit this is probably the pinnacle so far of like we didn't even plan, and you know as well as I do it goes from here into other people that we know doing other things in the business now as well. Yeah, the teacher can have.
Speaker 2:We've done one tour together 15 years ago, right Like and the amount of people that have connected in between there at this point.
Speaker 1:you know is just it's so wild man it's like, but again, either thing, that you truly appreciate the thing that I love and would teach me in the business and love in the business that we're in that you can work with somebody from a billion years ago and not know the connection until now.
Speaker 1:we're sitting here talking right now and it's like well, hold on. And then you start going to your brain like well, can you see an artist? Now I can start connecting the dots. The roots work with everybody. What you say fallout boys, I can name down things that had nothing to do with the roots, where I'm on a whole separate job now that had even nothing to do with them at that time. Yep, and I was working in that space then. That is creep. It was so cold, oh my God, it was so cold.
Speaker 1:It was brutal I still have the Obama coin and everything I still tell the story of when I was in the city at least.
Speaker 2:I was in the city. I was doing the actual inauguration over at the Capitol building. Didn't know either of you Well, so I knew Dietrich. But I mean we didn't know it was the same town, so anyway, go ahead go ahead, Kyle.
Speaker 3:I just, I still remember we were just excited to be in the Hinckley Hilton and they took us into the, the, the foyer, where they had covered up the presidential seal with a piece of carpet, and they're, like everybody, turn and face the wall because President Obama is going to come in the wall, out and shake everybody's hand and check this out. I'm standing next to Pete Wintz and then on the other side of Pete Wintz is Kanye and he said some shit that I'll never forget when we face the wall. And then we turned around and all of a sudden I'm shaking President Obama's hand and there's a first lady and, like it was mind blowing and I tell you what the quality of people that were working that whole thing had. No, it was nothing about politics. Let's go ahead and put that out there right now. It was not. It had nothing to do with politics. It had to deal with that moment in time.
Speaker 1:It was a moment. It was it was in, rock was on. Yes, he was rock. Listen, kid rock was there at the old while at the old Listen. He was on the set.
Speaker 3:He was totally there. There was a and and everybody was getting along and everybody was we didn't. It was great, it was amazing, like we literally walked there. It was. We took a cab to the 930 Club and everybody we'd worked with that day was at the 930 Club for Beastie Boys and Cheryl Crowe and Usher was there as an announcer. It was crazy that is so crazy.
Speaker 1:That is crazy, man. Wow, that is. That is so crazy. Oh man, that's crazy to have that right now. Good to meet you again, my man. Absolutely Good to see you in another lifetime. Look at that.
Speaker 2:Jeez, I had no idea. Literally it's all right now.
Speaker 3:Damn, that's so crazy man, but back to back to the Jimmy Kimmel or not Jimmy Fallon thing Jimmy Fallon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, jimmy Fallon Fallon.
Speaker 3:I think we have to stress that that show was run differently than every late night show and we we as as touring people, had done every late night show, every morning show, everything from.
Speaker 1:Rock of.
Speaker 3:Hall Center, all up and down New York City to LA and ABC NBC.
Speaker 1:She got you name and we covered them and they had a show. We did it.
Speaker 3:And this was the first time a band could walk into a show like that and feel like we were taken care of and that it mattered. You know what I mean. Yeah, you'd walk into Letterman and just feel like awkward all day. You'd walk into Jay Leno and he'd be super nice, but it was awkward just absolutely, and I didn't feel.
Speaker 1:It didn't feel warm, like like, and no puns in tennis best me like physically, physically and mentally.
Speaker 2:For the record, for anyone who has never been on one of these TV studios, they are insanely cold. Now I will say that Letterman had a joke that he would tell of why his studio was so cold and I think it's funny. So I'll say he likes to keep the comedy fresh and that was his joke as to why it was so cool.
Speaker 3:But anyway, I think it was to keep the engineers alive for longer, because they were there until that thing ended.
Speaker 1:The end. Yeah, the end, he didn't change anybody out. I'm, like, for sure, definitely one of those, and that's a lot of the TV shows. You know just that space and what I appreciate just about you know being now I don't work for the Tonight Show anymore. I've since gone on and worked for late night myself, myers, and that's where I'm currently at.
Speaker 1:Now my title is the Senior Music Coordinator, which, for all intents and purposes, for real, for real, it's a aka of a production manager which would be there, or, you know, a vent coordinator of any anything music related. You know that happens on the show with the house band and any guest bands. I'm in charge of all that. So I advance all of the you know, performances that happen on the show. Like I said, on the Tonight Show I was a A2, I was an audio tech, two completely different jobs on two completely different sides. For sure, where the Tonight Show side is more was more of a, you know, like a contract contractor working for the show, so medium-based and other that kind of stuff backed. And then now I work for NBC Universal, so I'm staff for the building. So just on, you know just another side of that show, again one of those spaces where I've gotten to work on multiple sides. I mean, chris, we had talked about before where I was, like you know, in my life I feel like I've honestly been able to have seen almost every side of what is this business that we're in from, like I said, being a drummer to the main drum check and then being a backline check for a backline company, and then you know that meaning that like, and then the different spaces of how this we're going to a TV show and now being a part of a TV show and then now really helping run a TV show.
Speaker 1:It's like all of these things were like, okay, I'm first time walking in the room, we were the guy just showing up, getting the lobby call. You went to that TV show and you set up. You know what I mean and now it's like I'm sitting out with it. The lobby calls I'm sitting out, what is the? What time I need you in the studio and giving you the rules and regulations of my show, and what a lot of people will definitely enjoy once we get started talking to them real out, in that I'm not, you know, and it's nothing against people, but we know what it's like.
Speaker 1:Well, you know the feeling or the idea that we feel like when you come to TV. It's not what we are used to, they don't understand us. So, being a guy who has that backing, it works great in my position where, as soon as we start advancing, I can tell me media like just so we're clear, I also oh man, this is about to be easy. Man, okay, this is all I need. But when all of a sudden the advance becomes so easy because they're like you understand us. We know that. You know exactly what we are, what we being by this, the whole idea where I'm the senior music coordinator and there's it's a production manager. You know what I mean for our world as a production manager. But because of the corporate, you know way that things are set up. You know the titles and how that goes.
Speaker 3:It's a very elaborate title but to make it as common as humanly possible production manager, the production manager to show so give somebody who has never done any of stuff that we done because I'm feeling the energy of, because I know what you do is sort of what I do and it's been a part of it what would you tell? Somebody who has never walked into Rockefeller Center.
Speaker 3:They've only seen it on fucking parades and when they like the tree and shit like what was the energy like in that building, because there's so much stuff that people consume that comes from that place. What was that like, walking in there as a normal human that doesn't have this all excess thing like what did you experience that you could tell people that have never had this experience before?
Speaker 1:from you like just on a working side, like my first time going in there as a worker, or just yeah like just be, just being in there, like so the first time going in the building, first time in the building, I think it might have been with the roots like for the first looting for late night when Jimmy Fallon, that was the first time going in there just that that energy was definitely crazy. Just like one. We're on a set and the set is about our guys. Like it's you know to me, like wait, this is this is our set. You know what I mean. It's like this is not just us set, like this is ours. This is about to be the roots man today. Like this is cool, right, this is about to be every night, this is going to be the roots every night.
Speaker 1:Like this is that that energy and every you know just it being a new thing and is watch how the stage hands and everybody's just loading in the gear and the prop people be in there and everybody's. You know they're building this and making sure that the color scheme is like this is this is like this is really major, like this is about to be. Like you know, like this, you know again, in their matching up to certain colors, okay, not what a color that drum set. Well, is it another color we can maybe give, if I don't know if that's gonna really go well. With the wall painting, you're like I didn't really think about that.
Speaker 1:Like you know what to watch the watch the level of what people were really thinking on the TV side and watching it happen in real time, how fast things need to be turned around where you know we could have what might be a night. It's not really that like things need to be turned around immediately, like it's a, it's a and go. When that countdown goes, we're ready. Lights, camera action, like it's really like camera action and you know and and that energy is that way the whole day. It's always being carried out that way. You could just stand in a hallway and just watching people just running. You watch props go flying down the room, that you'll go down a hallway this way.
Speaker 3:So what other shows were like. You walk by a bunch of other shows on the way to show what other shows were right there, right there, at that time so back about it.
Speaker 1:Back then, I about say who's across? I think Conan might have been still across the hall. Yep, I'm almost certain Conan was still across the hall there was a doctor.
Speaker 3:There was a doctor, I was doctor, I was over there before.
Speaker 1:That was Rose and show. Yep, she was upstairs on eight, which is my studio that I'm in now with Seth Meyers and that's the other thing it's like. So this now there's a Kelly Clarkson show was downstairs across from the tonight show now, so they're on six together. Eight has SNL and my show late night with Seth Meyers. That's at the end of my hallway. So for me, my studio was the first video since you get off the elevator that that's an Alice all the way into the hallway, which is not a you know crazy distance, but the idea of me standing in the hallway and what happens right now. Every day. Today is a reading day, so the whole cast comes in so they can all sit at the round table and read and you're watching. All of this is happening with that. Hey, that's we're a special guest is and I'm walking in and everybody is not security covered because you're in Rockefeller, so they walking very loose now is like we're just a random thing in the bathroom. They're about to leave out of the bathroom. Stall door opens.
Speaker 3:It's the rock, just me and just a hums like, just like whatever. Hey, man most like hey rock at that point you just call him Dwayne, or you just like out of it exactly like I don't know what.
Speaker 1:This is formal, informal where the bathroom like what is happening right now and that was, and that was very early days of you know to me, like being in there and it was. I'm in a bathroom, just you finish and wash my hands and install, opens up and he just steps out. He's like hey, what's going on, brother?
Speaker 3:I'm like I'm looking in the mirror back behind me like that's no, I always associate it with like people walking by castles and cathedrals in Europe and they're just like oh, it's like a thousand-year-old building or whatever right but, sure, after a while you just get so numb to it.
Speaker 3:That's why it's so interesting in the stories. Like I remember, the first thing I did when I went when we were on SNL is I went to the elevator shaft, because you always hear about the elevator shaft that all the guests, all the cast, everyone wrote something on the walls. Like you just said that where you were doing your show is where Roseanne was. Do you know how many people watched Roseanne?
Speaker 1:absolutely did. I just like Dr I, those shows had. They had a long run. They had a very long step on TV where everybody could talk about. They were part of a culture like where we could all speak on them. For quite a few ages can all speak about the Roseanne show and all speak about again Conan show. There's we show that you can talk about and now there's different shows in these studios but still nonetheless these add to the legend of these other shoes that have come through there as well.
Speaker 2:You know now having Kelly Clarkson on the East Coast or have been the West Coast, that's a different space now and what that energy is so one of the things that you and I we had talked conversation last week, you've had such a long-standing relationship with quest, love, roots and stuff and then obviously you know with him being, you know Jimmy Fallon stuff, so he's got a studio or guess his green or whatever there right and so you've had these relationships with drummers as they come through. So two things can you explain how the house band for Seth Meyers does this rotational drummer thing? And you kind of told me how like everyone wants to go see quest or go see his all his drum collection.
Speaker 1:Talk about some of all that yeah, so, yeah, so we do only night with Seth Meyers. The actual drummer is Fred Armisen, who's an amazing comedian, amazing actor, but he's the drummer for the actual show, like. So that's his spot, but because of who he actually is, he can't be there, you know to me, because he's constantly working. So one of the one of the other producers of the show and Fred and the other producers, they all kind of set down and he came up with this idea to create a rotating drummer program on our show. So the house band is what it is Eli Jenner called, the 8G band, which music director is like Eli Jennings. Then there's Seth Jabor and Sid Butler and that's the three people who are just the house band themselves. Three amazing guys. They also have a band of their own, but it's those three guys and then there's a rotating drummer where every Monday a new drummer comes in.
Speaker 1:Every Monday it could be any random, you know person that we reach out to. You just get this opportunity to come on to the show. They get to sit in and you know, and they get to play for the whole entire week. They get, you know, every day they learn how to do the walk-ons and the walk-offs and how to do commercial breaks and things like that. Walk-ons and walk-offs. Basically, when you know the person comes out tonight, you know coming out is they introduce the person and they band starts playing. A person walks over, shakes their hands, sit down. That's a walk-on, walk-off. Same thing as they go to the commercial break at the end of the interview. That's the walk-off and basically that's there. You know that's a part of what the drummer has to learn with the music and just how that format goes, of how we do it in TV.
Speaker 1:It could be a drummer. The greatest drummers we have come through, greatest drums in the world come through and it just doesn't matter, it's a different muscle you're using and to watch those guys who are again, they're mostly eat drumming. There are, but to get their brains to play and know to stop when it's like we're back from the commercial. You have to stop at that moment and the guys are like, just like, you know that's that won't work. You got a dirty with their legs, hit the couch. You need to be coming to the bar and we're back. You can't still be a drummer and it's just great like to watch some of the greatest drummers in the world come through and all of them getting caught. In that moment of like I thought I knew it. It's like, yeah, nope, nope, it's not, it's, it's a different muscle.
Speaker 2:It's a lesson in that the show's not about you anymore, correct?
Speaker 1:it's totally not about you at all. Like you know what I mean it with licks and what accents you can give. This is like now I know this has to stop, but he says five, four, three, two and then one. You need to be coming back and stopping as clean as possible on the one. It's always landing on the one, but you have to create that one. They're like wait, I just got here. It's like yeah, but you're on the drums and you're gonna need to play this. It's like okay, alright, okay, cool, let's do it one more time. One more time. It's like, okay, cool, so yeah, no, it's a.
Speaker 1:It's a really dope thing, especially to be, you know, an extra drummer, a drum tech you know, to be able to work with these different drummer. They get to come through people who I don't know, people who I do know, people who you know I look up to, an admirer decision drummers, and it's be able to get to work with them in a different space. I didn't get to work with them on the road per se or you know stuff like that, but I get the opportunity to work with them on my show and they're there for the whole week sitting in and it's a great thing if they have, like, you know a book or you know a tour or something that they're working on. All of that stuff gets worked into the show where every time they come back from commercial break they'll say your name and what you got working. Also sitting in with us right now, chris is sitting with us. You join us right now. He's normally out where Earl Smith, but right now he's sitting with us for the week. But you know, to me like and you're getting that every night, that's something that you just can't pay for. You can't pay for that level of publicity. You know that, meaning an idea that late night with Seth Meyers every night is telling, saying your name and what you got going on. So they created that program and it's been really cool.
Speaker 1:I've been on the show, I've been on Seth now seven years, I think seven years I've been on the show. So just think seven years and basically about 52 weeks. Every week is a different drummer, monday to Thursday. We take Monday to Thursday and I get again just some of the some of the greatest and cast again that I've just never heard of and cast that I have, and it's like you rock guys, you know, and it's not like it's a one type of drummer thing, like it's it's hitting all drummers that you know you call in and they bring in and you know I get this work with them and set up. And that same thing where we're working with guys and I set up a kit and I got it tuned up so I do the drum tech thing as well for that part of the band being at, that's something that I do as well. I'm like you know they was like oh, this works out as well. You get a two for one. You got me as a production manager dealing with the, the overall music that gets booked on the show and can take care of the drummer every time this you know every week or whatever when they come in.
Speaker 1:So that question that you asked about is anybody ever been bad or you know, upset up or not appreciative of the work I've done? Thank God still I can see that it hasn't happened yet. And we've definitely had some guys where I was like I don't know how this might go. We're like you know, just in a we got a rock guy on in my, my mental or what I might think might be even just like kind of pre tweaking a kit where they sit down and they hit the drums and they're like, hey man, these drums are really really good man, and I don't even play this brand of kit, but this kit sounds really good. Don't tell my brand.
Speaker 1:I said that I'm like it's okay, it's all right, you know. But you know, but I it definitely, I definitely appreciate you know. Just that that still carries on, that there's not a lack even still in that you know. And not that I still don't do it, because I still work for the roots and work for Quest. But just in the diversity and what the drummers are to come through and being able to tune up a kit and be a rock guy or jazz guy, whoever comes in and play that, I'm still be happy with what is the initial tuning and we've never worked together. I know me just doing what is my process to prepare for when the drummers come in and I base it off of that. I do some researching, you know, as one should do, and try to have it as close to what I've realized that there are sound condays to me and I start there and it comes off really dope. But again, from Chas Smith to the new names, it's it's interesting.
Speaker 2:I'm curious to hear from your perspective. And, colin, I've talked about this on previous podcast as a, as a, as an audio person who, you know, has a mixed drummers or and like, say, specifically, a house kit where it's different drummers. So in my instance it was a, you know, a church right.
Speaker 2:Whereas you got the same kit every week but yet the drummer changes. I was fascinated when I came to the conclusion or realization that like or that I wasn't crazy that it wasn't me that just changing the person behind the kit will change how that kit sounds. Like, specifically the kick drum you know in the snare, but like, but really kick drum, it's like mind boggling how same. Like no tuning change, but just the way the player, like maybe how long they leave the beater against the head or how hard they hit or whatever, and it's like it can change the whole tone of a kit just by changing the person. So like, have you experienced that through your time and stuff, especially like with this house kit?
Speaker 1:which been your experience there. That's definitely the case. Like you know, I could. I could tune the kit up the same way every time, but because the player is different, like and again it's the same kit. But because the player is different and I can have the same heads on there, the player being what their touches where they hit on the drum, compared to where another person might hit. One person might play close to the rim, another person might play dead center his drums. He likes hitting directly in the center of those drum.
Speaker 1:All different tones, the type of stick that they use, all of that Like, all of these different things play into that. One guy might show up and he's using something that looks like a damn tree log and then another guy shows up and he's using chopsticks and just like, those drums are not going to sound the same. You know what I mean, while using all the same stuff, but the player and that stick completely change everything. Sometimes the guy had the same stick but it just still won't sound. The same Guys lay into drums different. Some guys just kind of head and, you know, move around the kit. Some guys really laid we watching the guy bring his hand from up here. You're like, okay, we're going to change that head halfway through this show.
Speaker 2:And just set the record straight. And girl drummers too, lady drummers, oh one, oh no, no, and that's the thing also.
Speaker 1:Like again our show we have every. Like we have everybody's on our show. Like again, it's very diverse. There's women drummers, there's male drummers. Like we even had a kid on our show he was 16 at the time, which he wasn't even supposed to be on our show, but he's such an amazing drummer that we had him on the show and for the record.
Speaker 3:That's all the drummers I follow now on Instagram and TikTok are young girls and they fucking shred.
Speaker 1:They got something to say. They got something to say. They're making it very clear that they've been had something to say, but they're making it very clear now because you have this, you know the social media thing, where it can be pushed out way more than what it was ever before, and I'm appreciating it. I'm enjoying coming across all the different female drummers, and especially these young female drummers again, and they're just, they got gash, just like how the young guys are Everybody's like yo, he's a go get insane.
Speaker 2:Have you seen David? I saw a video the day of David Foster's like two year old kid just wailing on the drums.
Speaker 1:Have you seen this yet? I have not, but I'm I can again like it's it's ridiculous. It's bananas Like I'm, like these COVID babies are different too, I'm seeing some videos of some COVID babies where I'm like all right chapter two of this episode is right now.
Speaker 2:I'm just gonna go online right now.
Speaker 1:It's like these COVID musician babies are crazy, like the way that they're able to download the same thing, like the way that they're able to download this thing that has taken us past your 10,000 hours to really get good at. These kids are coming out the womb being able to put a and I'm just like what? Like where did that come from? Like what are you seeing that you're able to attach that in such a way and they're really can do a chop and really be all time and it's a hobby for them, like they're going to grow up and be a dentist and they're just a really, and they're really good drummer, but they just want to be a dentist because their parents were like here's these drumsticks.
Speaker 3:It's COVID.
Speaker 1:This will be fun. This will be fun Fix a good opportunity. Yeah, sure, it feels that way, but there's definitely this different breed of musicians that are now that now exist, and I'm enjoying watching women at the forefront of you know, catching a lot of these new, fresh. It's a new, fresh sound that I'm happy to hear. Like you know what I mean, that I could be scrolling, all of a sudden I can scroll into the four or five different female drummers and they got the juice and I'm like, yeah, let's go, I'm for this.
Speaker 3:It's a different approach and I'm, you know, not to say that tired of the guy side, but you know, and at the beginning you were talking about watching Prince and they had the electronic drums and things going on in Chile and the whole nine yards.
Speaker 3:I love the dudes and the girls now that are using acoustic drums to recreate those sounds or play like a drum machine, which to a drummer should be mind boggling, because remember, when we started this we didn't even have a click track. You know what I'm saying. And now it's like tempo is a thing and those kids know how to work tempo better than most jazz drummers from the seventies. Like it'll swing.
Speaker 1:The most little small, the little smallest jam band will still show up and have click track ready to go.
Speaker 3:And they can work it. They can work it and groove it like nobody, like with a drive that's so clean.
Speaker 1:You're like you haven't been here long enough to sound like this, nope, like where is that coming from? So it is like for us it's all pouring out of your heart. You're like I'll pour my heart out of this kid. This is out of there, just in it. You're like I don't want you to make that look that yeah, what'd you say 10,000 hours.
Speaker 3:And now it's like they just get home from school and they throw on YouTube and they do a lesson and then in a week they're putting up their own video. It's crazy. It's crazy with 100,000 followers. Does Quest ever call you? Or do you ever call Quest or walk down to the studio and be like I miss you, dude, like since you split to go to Seth, like, well, hold on, you still got time. I just wanted to ask that because, like, you were with that dude for 20 years and Quest and Quest was like the drum machine of drums, like if you wanted a hip hop drummer, you got Quest period. Like that was it. You still do and you still do and you guys were. You guys are just bros. That's not even a work relationship, no more.
Speaker 2:Nah, it's not. It's not Because was he back from the Black Lily right? Because you knew him from that club.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, I mean, again, that was there, so like that was their thing. So it was like, but at that time, like it wasn't, like they were there every week, it's their thing. So everybody around them out there doing their Roots thing is around, and now she was running everything, the people who are behind the scenes and now the people who are now management, like you know what I mean, like everybody was leveling up while they were leveling up as well. So had soft relationships back then, and you know what I mean. And, as you know, just to give them as the years keep going and keep going down, your people see your face.
Speaker 1:You're known for a thing, you're able to be more around, and it's like okay, okay, you didn't realize. Oh, your drum tech, you can, uh, if you call, can you call a beat your best scene if he available for a thing. But when I, when I left the, when I left the show definitely was like a little baby. I'm going two floors up. What do you? What are you talking? You're on six and I'm on eight, like what is wrong with you, sir.
Speaker 1:Like I know. But like you know, like right there, I'm just like bro, I'm on eight, you're on six, you can hear me, actually, like you can hear my studio above your head and I can hear you below us. You could yell and I could get to you Like it's okay, you'll be all right.
Speaker 3:People who don't do our jobs don't understand the relationship that some techs form with their artists and we talked about that.
Speaker 3:On the Brian Diaz episode, you know, and he always said that he's all business. But I think, even if you cut all that back, there is this bit of personal attachment. Like you know, some of those fools in the Eagles and like these old bands from back in the day are still carrying the same folk that they had with them from day one until they can't carry them. You know, and I was. That's a testament to our jobs.
Speaker 1:I was blessed enough to do a month long ACDC rehearsal. Whoa you want to talk about like a longevity team? Yeah, pab, the other tab, the other tab, the other tab, the other tab. I'm like the youngest cat there is, like 78. I'm like, wait, everybody's been here just to begin it. Okay, like that's just an action to me. Like to now look at it. Like to me, that's what the roots absolutely like embody. They're one of those bands that embody that same thing where it's like, once we figure out who our nucleus is, what are we changing? Like what are we? What are we looking back at the formula again, unless something goes wrong? Like you know what I mean, what is there to look at or to want to retest? And we go at the formula for this all goes the way it's supposed to. We can do anything and everything. What we got our team. So long as our team is there, there's no question to be asked, and if one person from our team is missing, we still all cover it. Like the old team is there Doesn't matter, okay, cool, during when COVID happened, it would be times where two out of two out of the four production people can go to the gig.
Speaker 1:Three out of the four people, one out of the four people and we're just like all right, cool, okay, I'm doing everything. Okay, I'm. You know, man, I'll test the positive to dammit. All right, it's just me, okay, cool. Well, and now I got a picture and I have three walkie talkies on a while because two guys were out. So I was covering three jobs my own job and two other guys but I had everybody's walkie talkies on at the same time. They took a picture like, really, teacher guy was like I mean, this is what it is Like. You know, it was a joke and we're laughing, but at the end of the day, the idea of knowing that those guys not being there wasn't a matter of it, one person being our production manager and the other person being a backline check, and I'm covering the production manager and our keyboard tech and my own job, which is the stage manager, and the drum tech for the weeks, all at the same time and nothing ever missed. There was no, oh damn, we missed something there.
Speaker 1:The job got done and that's the thing that you know, that that stands the wheel of time. When you have the right people around you, that it's nothing that really can't be done Like, especially when it's respect being had by everybody. You know the artists, there's respect being had there. You know the treatments that was going on. You're not being treated any kind of way.
Speaker 1:You know, I mean, where a person is staying in. You know a diamond hotel and you're, you're lucky if you're at a holiday and it's like no, that's not the case at all. You know, working with them is it's constantly a space where, wherever we stay, wherever they stay, that's where we stay. However, they fly there. That's how we fly there. If they're getting on a private jet, we're all getting on a private jet. There's never where, okay, we're going to meet, as they have a private jet waiting for them and we're going to be in economy over here waiting and hopefully get a seat and it's going to be an all seat or a middle seat. It's like nah, nah, nah, it's everybody cool to flight news at this time. And that plays into our whole crew working on the show as well, because everybody's there whenever we got to go do a gig where we can warriors now because of the TV show stuff.
Speaker 1:So on Friday, when they get finished taping because my show takes Monday to Thursday I normally a fly out right after my show or first thing Friday morning to go do the gig where they got a tape on Friday night. So they can normally fly out till late Friday night. They're getting that right eye out to fly out. I can go get everything started and set up, get the loading started and all that. By the time they get there everybody's just doing the other text or whatnot and the audio team are loading up their files. But everything is already set up and ready to go, and be it that we can all basically do the same kind of job. It just makes that so much easier. Where nobody has to think about it, we rent all of Quest's drums. We don't carry anything other than the symbols Everywhere we go. I just rent a kit.
Speaker 3:Two things A testament to those behind the scenes, like yourself, who take care of people like that. And then the second thing is that feeling that you had after you lost that gig in DC, after you quit school in high school, about feeling like you're in the right position, in that you are where you need to be. Those two things came together in all those statements, which is perfect.
Speaker 1:That's truly, truly and that's definitely like even inside the air we're talking about, like how, what the energy is like coming into 30 rock, that it never has gotten enough and I hope it never does become just like a whatever. Like I'm just in this place, Like I enjoy that every day I walk in here, I'm like I look up at that building every day, like I'm fucking believable, like this is, this is real, like this is, this is like you know it. Just honestly, you know again, especially when it's not something that you wrote in your plan book. You know what I mean, it wasn't something that you put down and like I'm going to work on TV, I'm going to like no, there's no shortlist, there was no log list, it was just.
Speaker 1:I just remember in high school saying that I knew for a fact I would definitely be in entertainment business. That's something I knew. I didn't know where it would be at and I made it very clear. I didn't know where it was going to be at, but I knew I would be in this business somewhere for sure. And then now, 24 years later, in this business and in a different space, and thank you, and I, you know again, I just truly appreciate just the being here and being able to not just be here but being someone who's who's needed while here, like not just in the room. You know what I mean, that I'm there for a job and people respect me for my job, and even the TV world the same way.
Speaker 1:You know that notion that a lot of us have. You know, when we first come into the TV space it's like, ah man, these guys. You know what I mean. That's the same way they look at us. All these rogue guys. They'll come in here with their BS and anybody trying to hear this nonsense they talk about, and to be the middle man in between and be able to help them feel differently than how we may have felt or how they may have felt about each one of us. And that didn't mean to be able to be like nah guys. Which I don't understand is that when we coming in from this other, we couldn't offer playing, coming from just doing a loadout that we didn't get out until two o'clock in the morning and then we have to be the you guys at five in the morning that guys are. We're not trying to be snappy or smart with y'all, we're a little, we're a little cloudy. We're trying to wake up still, where you guys this is your routine, is what you do and haven't been able to have those conversations because I'm on the inside and I'm a part of the team.
Speaker 1:Now, you know, now they look at it a lot different guys now it's not like on some, like these fucking guys, now these rogue guys sure they come. It's like nah, it's very much open. Like you know, at least I can speak for my show for sure, like I enjoy being able to let guys know like nah, they're like I know we can't touch that when we get there and I'm like that's actually not really true. Like we have to run everything. You know what I mean Per se, but my audio team, they will gladly let you come back there.
Speaker 1:You can't load a file and that, but he will build a file and let you come back there and give you time to work on the board where you shouldn't be touching our boards at all. Our guys are cool with the idea of understanding like, oh, guys, they help them. This is going to help everybody if you give them a little bit more leeway and allowing them to be able to talk to their artists and say, oh, I personally went back there and put your little EQs on there. So you're good Now your artist mentally. You know a lot of it is mental.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The artist mentally is like okay, well, my God, I got to touch them stuff, all right, so we good, I watch a little stuff like that matter. Yeah, it does.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no for sure. So tying all that together, the mental thing you used to tour, you're doing TV. So, looking back to when you're more we're touring, or when you're in a live show, what is the pinnacle of the day for you? What kind of defined success, what drives you there and how has that changed? How do you define that for yourself when you're in the studio and doing a TV show? What's the pinnacle, what's that? That the peak of the day for you?
Speaker 1:My peak of the day. So today we happen to have a band on today, like the peak of the day is honestly waking up on, like that first Monday morning, like actually it didn't have to be just the band. This is, in general, that Monday morning first, no matter what has happened throughout my weekend. When I pull up to that side and it says 30 Rockefeller Plaza, it's like cameras action for me. I don't drink coffee, anything like that at all. I don't do Red Bulls, nothing like that. I get on my train. I can be from Philadelphia to New York every day back and forth. I feel like I couldn't. I wouldn't do that if I didn't genuinely love what it is that I'm into doing. Like if my commute is to me, I don't feel like it's long, but if it could be longer and I think I would still be very much okay with getting up and doing what it is that I do every day. And I pull up the 30 Rock and I'm like who? And then the first time I'm seeing my name in the credits it was like okay, all right, that tied it all in, like Shogun J is going off, and then I'm just like wait, pause, oh wait, hey, my name my name's in the credits, like, hold on, mama, look, mama, look, look, look sexy to everybody. Look my name's in the credits, it's so go on, look at this, like you know, and of course that's. That's a self-gratification thing, like. But honestly, just the pulling up to the building, honestly, knowing that I'm a part of when I, when I walk in that building and then I put my badge on it. This badge is hung in my name and it's an energy when I put that on in the morning and walk out my door to note that I'm about to go put on the show that the masses are going to watch Bigger than almost as big as again when we go do our concerts and what that is entertaining that group of people like to know that every night what I do goes out to a whole different space of people. It's not just like a live string thing that we could do with that one space on the concert side. This is a everyday stream. You can go back and watch it as many times as you want and then know when we have a band on and different things that I knew that I had to put my fingers in my hand on or my yes or my no to for it to come out the way that it is. Like it's just really really cool. That's the stuff that really keeps me going.
Speaker 1:When people in the show who been doing this their whole life come to me and they asking my opinion or suggestion on things that might that they could add to something that they got going on, I'm just like you want my input, like what it's like. But moving from that space and understanding like my input does matter, I do have something to say, like I mean not trying to be in anybody's business, but in the space that it no, I am somebody who could be asked this question and look at it as somebody who could also have an answer for you, you know, or at least being able to help you move this along. So it's all of those things and working with an amazing team of LA Night with Seth Meyers, like every. I mean tonight's show was amazing as well, but I've put more time in on the Seth Meyers show. Like I said, I only did the tonight show for one year and I left for my one year anniversary and started on the night with Seth Meyers. But just that team at late night, starting with Seth Meyers and all the producers and everybody underneath there, like it's just they make you want to come to work. We have a blast every day, I like. I mean we really have a blast every day, like if there's nothing going on, we could just sit in the hallway and everybody is just cracking up, laughing, cracking jokes. On my worst day I feel like I could go to work and just I'm going to be laughing, I'm going to enjoy myself. People are going to check on you. People want to. You know what I mean. Everybody's tapped them or one another, but it starts with Seth.
Speaker 1:Like, seth is really that guy. He's super, super down the earth. You know what I mean. Super, super, just genuine guy like very, very approachable. He's not one of those like no one goes to his work. He goes to his wing at a building side kind of guy. Like not, he's in there chilling, hanging with everybody. What's going on guys? What's up? You feel the umpits bird man? We got a battle this out. You know what I mean Like. But he's a conversation that we really have and can have. And my birthday, you know, getting a gift from the office or from him personally where he's hanging right. You ought to know, or something. Or he has this really old typewriter that he likes giving people newt's office typewriter. Typewriter is old as hell, but I have this newt that he looked me on one of my birthdays off this typewriter. It's just so many great little things.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's awesome yeah.
Speaker 1:Being able to take the family up there. My son has been to my office so many times. He makes me want to work there as well with me. I mean, like everybody knows him, christmas holiday time they want to take him shopping. What day is your coming in? Because we want to take him? Hey, hey, hey, leave him alone. He has more than enough toys.
Speaker 1:I barely have room in my house right now for this stuff and it's like you know what I mean. But it's a blessing at the same time. It's, you know, I enjoy that my family is able to now, you know, receive the perks from. You know, the work that I put in and the work that I have put in and I enjoy that. Like that's again, that's what drives me every day to get up at whatever time in the morning or, you know, come home at whatever time at night, knowing that I've felt, you know, do this thing that I enjoy and that other people enjoy. So now that's definitely the driving driving force behind that is just being a part of such a great, you know team and company and program.
Speaker 3:So I have two things Fanboy question who's been on? One of the late night shows where you were like holy shit, I just met that person. And then the second thing is probably a little bit more personal, but I think it was the rock we might have already answered that one.
Speaker 3:You heard the rock taking it down. The second one would be who did you feel like you were proving something to do when you were doing this? Like? You've mentioned your mom a ton of times and I've done that as well With myself, with my parents, is like I'm always trying to show them that I can perpetuate this, that this can be a thing Like it's not a joke, it's it's it's I got, I have it, I can do this Like. So fanboy, who? And then who do you feel like you're proving something to at this point?
Speaker 1:Whooo, fanboy, fanboy it's. It's weird, weird. My fanboy moment, I don't know it's. This is what makes the fanboy moment so we're working for the roots is what makes fanboy moments hard to kind of come by, because everybody's a fan of them and because I've been working for them for so long, I've ended up in rooms with some of the most legendary people. You're like where do you top this at? Like they're getting like so I've really don't. I haven't met the person yet. I don't know. I've really enjoyed plenty of people. I met the fans. That was cool as fuck, like like they had the Winkler there. It was like it was cool as hell. Eddie took part in like one of our office, like little, like um raffles that we do like any one, and it was. It was like yeah, and then he brought the whole show I think like peaches or something Like who can tell that story?
Speaker 3:You just told us about the fucking fawns, who does? It.
Speaker 1:Well, it, it, it again. It'd be so many, it'd be so many things that it's not really even downplayed as much as like it becomes like it's not unfortunate, but you know, it's like so many things kind of play into it and all started colliding together and it's like you know, if you start to tell the stories, I consider it to tell a million stories for sure, but it's like a fanboying kind of thing. I've never been like a never thing. I'll really fanboy as much as like step back and like yo, this is like wow, like this, this is some cool ass shit. I'm in the middle of right now, but we do the Roots picnics and everybody who's on there every time and, just like you know, we're playing behind them. It's like you know what I mean. So it's like the fanboy thing is like it's not really fanboys much. As for myself, it's just more like yo, this is some legendary shit I'm a part of. Like this is this is definitely going to be talked about in history. I'm sure like this is, I got it. I just see it wasn't at the show, though. That's what makes you get a lot of stuff that will be at the show. It just means the most.
Speaker 1:It's always Roots, though, like by far, but I'll connect one Obama. We did his birthday party that he did during COVID. The Roots were the house band for his birthday party. I also did his first inauguration. So I've been able to. I did his first inauguration, I did multiple parties at the White House and then did his birthday party at his own personal house.
Speaker 1:By far I think that might be the most fanned out thing that has happened in just my life in general. I'm like just in a meeting of president and being able to connect and then really have a relationship with the president, because there really there really becomes a relationship when you go there around him. Enough, it's like there's no way he's not going to know who you are, like you can't just be around the president of the free world Like no, no, hey, deutre, how are you man? I'm just like yeah, so you know, like I would say by far that being one of my most pinnacle. And then the people, of course, who are in these kind of parties. Where you're at the president's birthday party, you can imagine who your guest list is. You know what I mean. So it's like you're just walking around and it's like his parties are very open. So it's like that to me, tops any and every fanting out thing I think could have ever played out in my life, and being able to hang with what was a sitting president during his presidency and after the fact, and being very much in first name basis and hugs from the first lady, oh my God, so good to see you again. How are you, how you been? I was just like, oh, I just appreciate you guys being here and it's like I'm sitting here having a whole conversation. Yeah, you know what I mean. So it's like to me that's. That's by far the fanting out things.
Speaker 1:As far as who I do it for, I would definitely say the first would be for sure my mother. Just, I mean, she's definitely the reason that for the season of what would be my life and existence, just always pushing me, always my mom being the person that would pack the drums up in the car and drive me across town because I'm playing here but I'll have a ride. So my mom's taking me hanging out in the nightclub till 2 or 2 30 in the morning because I'm sitting in jamming somewhere and then riding me back to the crib, like you know what I mean, and barely making enough money to make my little $50. I still need to borrow $200 even after I just gigged all night long and mom being that person, you know what I mean there to do this every day for sure, and you know definitely was a matter of being able to one day be able to show my mom, being able to bring her into a room to be able to show her that. You know the late nights of me playing drums and keeping the neighbors up and keeping her up, and you know the money that she spent on sending me to because I went to Southern Music School to learn how to read music.
Speaker 1:My mom wanted me to learn how to read. She was like I refuse to be out here as a musician and not know how to read music. So at 13, she sent me to Southern Music School. So that was the only like real formal formal, you know teaching that I ever got. But you know, just again and my mom wasn't out here, didn't just have money to send me to stuff like that, not knowing what this future could really be like. But she invested in me because of what she thought and what she saw. It was that I wanted to see through to now be, you know, in a space and state that I am, you know, now, just in my life and in the business, I definitely enjoyed being able to, because of the work that I put in, let my mom enjoy some things in life and, you know, be a behalf for you know, just in my personal space and people know my mom and celebrities know my mom, first name basis and a what's up mom, what's going on. My mom was like, oh man, mom, woman in the building, oh, I gotta get one of them. Hugs, I gotta get a kiss. And I got you know to me like I enjoy. I enjoy that for sure, like you know, and definitely work hard and I did a space of you know, just my mom being able to look up and like my baby, my baby right there. Look, she's got my baby. Yeah, just, you know all of it.
Speaker 1:You know I was on TMZ because of a bus accident with the roots. The first person that they show is me. They don't show anybody else from the band but me. It was like great, we're cutting through, we're cutting through Germany, cutting through Germany. And the bus flipped over. We were going to open up for Kanye West. He's going to dark tour. The bus flipped over. They're getting everybody out the bus, I think like my arm or something was hurt, like it was hurting, so they struck me to the stretcher and a whole nod. They will me out who's right there at TMZ, the first picture back to America. What is it? Me or the stretcher? And this is predating, like being able to just pick up your phone and just you know, like since the media being the buzz.
Speaker 1:Then at that point it's like so I'm having to call my mom. Like Mom, listen, real quick, before this gets public, you want to see a picture of me? I'm okay, I'm fine. Like what? You're fine, what are you talking about? Like what, mom, listen, there's going to be a picture. I was going to come out at some point on the news, I'm okay. So it's like you know.
Speaker 1:But these different moments, you know what I mean Again, just being able to tell stories with my mom, and now I'm even further now having, you know, my wife and kids, have been able to have them a part of what it is I do, and those relationships that I've, you know, created with these different people being, you know, celebrity or just people in the business, and just being able to have them be a part of it and, you know, see their father, see their husband, their significant other, you know, be respected in the craft that I love so much and that I express so much, you know, love towards that definitely pushes me even more further and that, you know, pushed me to even go into the TV world where, like, that was a different space. I just, I just kind of, I just had my son not too long before that offer. It just happened to come and you know I was actually working for Lady Gaga. I'm still working for Lady Gaga. I'm like who's like?
Speaker 1:All right, cool, we just done a Super Bowl. So all that was kind of done. So like all right, well, just back to the normal stuff. Like back, wait, wait, hold up, we just do the Super.
Speaker 2:Bowl. No, this is all good, it's all good no. We just drop that in there.
Speaker 1:No, but now it was, you know again, but just those things. It's like doing the Super Bowl and doing all these different kinds of things, just taking these opportunities, working for our artists and just believing that for what was happening over here, I had never worked for artists that big, you know, that caliber and you know doing a rena tour of that, of that caliber. I had never worked for anybody like that. So, just believing in myself and people around me, they can be filled that way. I'm believing in me.
Speaker 1:You know that, like you got this, the same about the nothing and you know, maybe an eight, be honest with myself and feeling and I think everybody should feel some little like not hesitation, but just like a little nervous and it's to, you know, stepping into or elevating, you know to those next levels, like I don't know too many people that would sit here, so they're not telling the truth to say that you just walk in like oh, I do it, I'm not, for me, it's not, I definitely walking to them spaces, like okay, like I've never had this many people out on.
Speaker 1:You know, for all the touring that we did, it was like nah, you know that's a different level when you're these arenas and you know stadiums and all that kind of stuff, and that's the kind of stuff that Gaga, that's the tour that we did with her, that's what we were doing around the world. So it's like working through those stations and knowing that I could take care of my family, knowing that I had a kid and my son was born while I was on tour with Gaga, and being able to fly home from the other side of the world to come home and see my kid to be born and then fly back to Australia and four days out, these borns, Like why, because I got a kid in the family to you know, all these things that I need to take care of, but a family was still pushing me to like no, it's okay, like sorry, listen, I know you miss us and we miss you too, but daddy got to go to work, daddy got to make it happen.
Speaker 1:So you know it's like you're getting up and going to NBC. It's the same thing. You know what I mean. It's truly the same exact thing. We're waking up, there's got to be four in the morning to get on my six am train, or you know. Whatever it may be Like, my family is definitely who I do it for, who gives me that, that pushing the energy to come out and do it every day I'm like, and I'm blessed and happy to be, you know, and for my village to support me. A way to do this, let's go Amazing Period.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right. So Kyle got two questions there, so I got two questions to end here with. I know we could probably go for another four hours but, I know, I know our bladders and us probably got to go, and then people have probably already committed to work. Three times at this point I listened to this episode. So anyway, all right, as a backline tech, I mean, and this goes for, you know, audio engineers too whatever.
Speaker 2:We all run into crazy times of shit going bad or crazy in a show, you know, I mean like I'm not talking about, like oh, the snare head popped and you got to swap a snare out, like you know. All right, there's got to be a wild story of like you having to jump in mid show and save the day or do the thing. Maybe some fan comes on stage. I don't know. What's the wildest thing you've experienced on stage.
Speaker 1:The wildest thing I've experienced on stage? Definitely quite a few. One of those was definitely a fan run. We were in Stockholm. We were in Stockholm and doing this show at the Nokia hotel. It's dope, like venue on it. It's dope Really, wouldn't like mahogany venue. It's like one of my first shows touring with the roots. It's like five feet of snow outside, freezing cold Show is going on there, steps that the audience could just walk right up on stage. The whole front is all steps, dude, walks, clean up on stage. And it was like this is my first, like my first show. So I'm like I'm ready to like. I'm like I don't know how to really approach this. We don't have security, it's just us, it's all guys. So I'm like okay, they are getting the guys start getting a little loose, they start moving around. And I was like okay, you're taking it to. The guys are like remove from from the stage. Two spins and a toss. Nice, definitely. Yeah, yeah, yeah had to. Had to remove someone from a stage for sure.
Speaker 1:I fell off a stage before and rolled down the back curtain and the curtain was like a hanging curtain. So I was literally holding the curtain a handful of curtain and this curtain is literally swaying like this and it's ground mouth in the middle of a concert. Yeah, yeah, yeah that. And then I finally just slowly, just let it go and just slid down and then, by the time I got to the bottom of it, it started falling and I had to grab the whole curtain and hold it back. This way. It's be why and my drummer is looking me in the eyes because I'm trying to help him out, that's how this even happened he comes down. I was up. I was up that's massive sand was something trying to run to him. There was a pile of curtain on the back of the stage and I stepped right on it and I'm going up in the air and landed in the curtain. I was knocking over the whole entire thing. Thank God I didn't. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get one more. I'm about to say one more.
Speaker 1:We did a. It was like one of those. It was like a VH1 something, something Kelly Clarkson was actually performing and for whatever this thing was, she wanted, like all the guitar players, to walk out and play all the way down to the other than the catwalk when they go back there. They realized that for this moment to happen, the guitar player needs to switch one of his sounds. All right, I couldn't get a cable long enough. Whatever the case was, I had to stand in and fake guitar in front of this guitar pedalboard and I'm the one switching his pedal form for all the different sounds, for YY and for everything. Me and other back loud tech are the ones literally doing all of the pedal switches for this whole performance. And we're just back there. We're big out like the dark light on you. We're just a shadow over your face like this. It would just make your face shrub it along. So yeah, that would definitely be a few of the funny wilds just staying there and playing out for sure.
Speaker 2:Nice, all right. If you could define your legacy or how you'd want to be known, how would you define that?
Speaker 1:I think I carry it in a positive way. But the thing that I use on Instagram my title on there, which is the Fall Guy I feel like my career definitely. I created a niche space for myself where it's like when things fall apart, I'll become like I became this guy that everybody called to me, everybody leading towards, like when the house is burning down, somehow my phone rings like I know you can still save my house. I know everything's on fire, but I believe you can save my house and I appreciate one of my good friends. He calls me the good.
Speaker 1:He says I keep everything together, no matter what the fuck is going on, I always keep it together. So I think my legacy would definitely fall in that space of being one of those guys who you called on and you can call on and you know that the thing is going to get done. I want to see it through. Matter what the case is, I'm a figured out. I'm one of those guys that you would definitely want to have on the team and I appreciate getting those calls and acknowledge it as such.
Speaker 2:It's awesome. I was very curious actually where the fall guy came from on Instagram.
Speaker 3:So there we go. It's answered my answer, my thing man, it's been awesome.
Speaker 2:I'm still mind blowing this connection with Kyle that I had no idea when I set this up.
Speaker 3:I remember that we played, like in San Antonio, we played at this four way stop and the stage was at one corner of the four way stop and before the show even started nobody knew who we were, because we were all there early. We all met up in the middle of the street and that's where I met Dietrich and we were all talking and we all introduced ourselves and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 1:But talk about what was going to be that day.
Speaker 3:It all comes back to you. It really does.
Speaker 1:It does. This is amazing man. This is definitely great and I appreciate you guys for having me all. Thank you. It's really just been great talking to you guys. Chris, this has been longer with you. Just us catching up in general.
Speaker 3:We might have to do this again, we might call on you again.
Speaker 1:I'm about to say this is good, it's whatever. Trust me, this is plenty and plenty I can talk about.